Category: Hico Tigers

by Daniel Youngblood

District 8-2A Div. II Week 1 Report: Santo rallies past Rio Vista in opener

rioSanto 14, Rio Vista 12 — Trailing 12-8 heading into the final quarter, the Wildcats got a five-yard touchdown run from Sam Henderson with a little more than eight minutes remaining in the game to earn a come-from-behind win over the Eagles.

Santo (1-0) was outgained 228-177 and lost the turnover battle 2-1, but the Wildcats were able to make the plays they needed down the stretch to get the victory.

The Wildcats, who rushed for 141 yards on 35 carries, were led by Jake Bryan (8-48 rushing), Hutson Thornton (3-43, 1 TD rushing; 1-36 receiving) and Henderson (7-37, 1 TD rushing). Rio Vista (0-1) gained all but 17 of its yards through the air.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Stephenville play host to Sweetwater (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)

LAST WEEK: 0-0, .000
SEASON TOTAL 0-0, .000

At last, here we are. 

The 2021 football season has arrived, giving us a much-needed diversion every Friday night, in isolated spots all over Central Texas. As always, I will endeavor to pick the winner of all our area games, from Class 1A through Class 6A, with the top matchup serving as our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.

Our first spotlight game should come as no surprise, with long-time Hamlin coach Russell Lucas debuting as the head coach of the Sweetwater Mustangs — one of the most -storied programs in the Big Country.

Their opposition?

The Stephenville Yellow Jackets at Tarleton State’s Memorial Stadium. 

With that, let’s dive into the picks, shall we? 

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Quarterbacks

After a week of highlighting area playmakers, we wrap up our eight-part preseason position rankings series with the Big Country’s best signal callers.

To complete our look at the area’s top players, we’ve ranked our top 10 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2021.

We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kickoff a new season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Running Backs

As we wind down our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we arrive finally at the Big Country’s top ball-carriers.

After breaking down this year’s crop of receivers and tight ends Monday, we move now to the area’s top backs, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch in 2021. Don’t forget to check in Wednesday night when we conclude our series with the top 10 area quarterbacks.

We hope you enjoy tonight’s list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

We’re approaching the final stretch of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, and it’s time to look at the Big Country’s top pass-catchers.

After starting the offensive portion of our series Sunday with the linemen, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the perimeter, ranking our top 10 wide receivers/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2021.

We hope you enjoy our list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.   

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Offensive Linemen

With the defensive and special teams rankings behind us, it’s time to look at the area’s top offensive players. And we’ll start with the foundation of any productive offense: the offensive line.

For the fifth installment of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we turn our attention to the trenches, ranking the Big Country’s top 10 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2021.

We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Kickers/Punters

After recognizing the top defensive players throughout the Big Country over the past three days, it’s time to honor the specialists.

We continue our eight-part preseason position rankings series by naming our top 10 kickers and top three punters to watch this fall.

We hope you enjoy this list and that you have enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kickoff the 2021 season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Defensive Backs

After starting with the linemen and linebackers, we turn to the defensive backfield to complete our look at the top defenders in the Big Country.

For the third installment in our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we shift our focus to the secondary, giving our list of the area’s top-10 defensive backs and others to look out for in 2021.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Linebackers

After taking a look at the Big Country’s top defensive linemen on Wednesday, it’s now time to examine those who will backing them in 2021.

Continuing with Big Country Preps’ eight-part preseason position rankings series, here’s our top 10 linebackers to watch this fall, as well as a list of the others we’re expecting big things from.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Defensive Linemen

With the start of football season around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact in 2021.

For the first installment in an eight-part series that will cover all position groups, we’ll be taking a look at the area’s top defensive linemen, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this fall.

As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through them.

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by Evan Ren

2021 DISTRICT PREDICTIONS: Evan and Daniel make their picks

Without further ado it is time for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.

This is the culmination of several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor, so we’re more than ready to post it. 

So dive in and study our take on the upcoming season, along with the more than 80 preseason stories we posted earlier today. Enjoy! We’ll see you on the road. 
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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN: The top area games worth traveling to in 2021

Every year, one of the things I look forward to most, is mapping out the upcoming football season — charting the games I believe will have the greatest impact. 

First and foremost, it’s a preseason menu for area fans who enjoy driving to some of the Big Country’s best football games on a weekly basis. Call it a football roadmap of sorts.

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by Daniel Youngblood

HICO FEATURE: Long road to first head coaching job has prepared Swearengin for this moment

HICO — With a quarter of a century spent in coaching, all in assistant roles, Hico’s Todd Swearengin took a longer path than most to his first head coaching job.

But it’s because of those years — spent in successful programs under winning coaches — that the first-year Tigers mentor feels he’s ready for the challenge before him now.

Taking over a Hico program that has gone just 5-26 over the past three seasons, Swearengin will be tasked with restoring the winning tradition the Tigers enjoyed for most of the three decades prior. And he’ll be leaning on a deep well of experience and the things he learned from his own coaching mentors as he tries to turn HHS around.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2021 HICO FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Senior-led Tigers out to compete in Swearengin’s first year

HICO —Taking over a Hico program that’s won just five games combined over the past three seasons, first-time head coach Todd Swearengin knows the challenge he’s up against in his inaugural season with the Tigers.

But if you ask the former Springtown, Leander, Glen Rose and Brock assistant, he’ll tell you there’s an air of excitement around the Tiger program.

With 25 of 29 lettermen returning from last year’s 2-9 team, including seven offensive and eight defensive starters, HHS is finally seeing its numbers rebound after a series of lean classes. And with a strong group of seniors leading the way, the Tigers are ready to hit the ground running with their new coaching staff.

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by Evan Ren

COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: Hico Tigers

Football is just around the corner, and we at BigCountryPreps.com are committed to bringing you the information you need to prepare for your favorite team’s season.

We’ll be releasing our Big Country Preps Preseason Football Preview, the most comprehensive look at the upcoming Big Country football season anywhere, on Saturday, Aug. 14. But you won’t have to wait until then to sate your gridiron appetite.

Leading up to the first day of fall football practice on Aug. 2, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2021 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.

We continue in Class 2A Division II with the Hico Tigers. On Monday we will take a look at the Santo Wildcats, followed by the Anson Tigers on Tuesday.

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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN: Handicapping the boys state track meet.

Having already released our picks for the girls state track meet earlier this evening, we now present the boys event, using the same approach. 

We’ll comb through each event involving a Big Country athlete (or athletes) and assess if they are favorites, dark horses or long shots to get on the medal stand. 

Let’s not waste any time. Let’s dive in. 

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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN: Picking the favorites, dark horses and longshots at the girls state track meet

I don’t care who you are — even if you’re a non-fan when it comes to track and field. 

The excitement of the state meet in Austin will capture your attention if you catch sight or sound of it. It’s inescapable. 

And once per year, it is my pleasure to examine the multitude of Big Country athletes heading to Austin for the event and pick who we can expect to see on the medal stand from our area. 

Let’s begin with the girls side, looking at each event in which a Big Country athlete has qualified for state. 

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by Evan Ren

CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Clyde’s Phillips earns this week’s spotlight

In a week filled with unforgettable moments, several of our nominees handed in by area coaches could justifiably be called our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week. 

We finally settled on Clyde sophomore Payton Phillips, who stunned attendees at the Region I-3A meet by taking gold in both the long jump (18 feet, 6 inches) and the 100 hurdles (15.12) — breaking school records that were 25 and 15 years old, respectively. 

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by Evan Ren

CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wylie senior Aguilar vaults way to honor

Kylor Aguilar’s high school athletic career has been filled with obstacles, but after beginning it with such promise as a state silver medalist as a freshman, the Wylie pole vaulter is on track to finish it in style.

Aguilar, who had his sophomore season derailed by a rare bone disorder and had his junior season shortened by the COVID-19 stoppage, is having his best high school season to date as a senior.

And after vaulting a career best 15 feet, 9 inches at the District 4-5A meet in Lubbock, he’s our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending April 10.

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by Evan Ren

CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Aspermont junior takes this week’s award

A strained hip may have slowed Aspermont junior Sadie Gentry, but you’d never know it by watching her compete. 

A week ago, Gentry took gold in the high jump (4-8) and the 400 meters (63.8) at the District 15-1A meet. She then helped the 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams take district titles as in 52.9 and 4:33, respectively.

Her four district titles were more than sufficient to earn her our Capital Farm Credit Player of the Week/BCP Player of the Week award for the week ending April 3. But when you add the fact that she was nursing a sore hip and following orders to not overdo it, her performance becomes even more significant. 

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